Sound reproducing apparatus



April 6; 1937. ,E. R. HARRIS 2,076,298

SOUND REPRODUCING APPARATUS Filed Opt. 29, 1934 K. y A I v as 39' V L I16 [6f as 39 as L INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 6, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 16 Claims.

This invention relates to means for reproducing sound from records ofthe disc type such as are commonly used in the sound reproduction art,and the primary object of my invention is to provide an instrumentcapable of being used in connection with or apart from a radio receivingset so as to amplify and control the volume of sound when the reproduceris electrically connected in the circuit of a. loud speaker.

A particular object is to provide a compact, simple and inexpensiveinstrument of composite character including means for rotatablysupporting a disc sound record of large size on which the sound track,or groove, is regularly and accurately formed for providing a maximumnumber of convolutions and a record of maximum length. My instrument isin effect a talking book on whichby reason of the closely spaced grooveconvolutions a book length novel may be recorded in a single unit.

The invention accordingly comprehends means for continuously applyingpower to and for rotating the record at a variable axial speed, ascompared with the usual constant speed records,

0 whereby the speed of the record may be increased or decreasedgradually as the reproducing stylus traverses successive convolutions ofthe grooved sound track as it is moved either inwardly from or outwardlyin the direction of the axis of the record.

It is a further object to provide means for manually releasing andengaging the power applicator and the reproducer from a record so thatany selected portions of a record may be reproduced by a simpleadjustment .of the mechanism. Other objects may appear as thedescription progresses.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown a preferred form, of apparatus,subject however, to modification within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit of my invention. In saiddrawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of

a composite radio signal receiving set and sound reproducing unit;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Figs 3 and 4 are, respectively, sectional details of the structure onlines 3-3 and 4-4 of Fig. 2.

As generally arranged I provide a suitable case i of ample size andsuitable form to accommodate all of the necessary elements of a radioreceiving set, as at one end thereof, and a sound reproducing unit inthe other end thereof. Said case has a cover 2, a bottom 3, ends 4 and5,

2. front side6 and a back 1. An end portion (see the left hand portionin Fig. 1) may be arranged to receive the mechanism of a radio receivingset, with an aperture 8 through-which the station dial of a set isvisible, and rotatable dials or knobs 9, I0, I l and 12 on the front iiof the case. Knob 9 maybe arranged for station finding, knob ID forstation tuning, knob II for volume and knob I2 for connecting thereproducer with the loud speaker of the radio set, or otherwise.

The mechanism of the sound reproduceris preferably mounted as a unit ona metal base I3 so that the complete mechanism may be quickly attachedto or detached from the case. The

mechanism includes an electric motor M, a worm l5, and gear reductionset iii, a friction driving pulley H and a sound reproducer l8, and acentrifugal governor l9, all of which elements are mounted asa'sub-assembly on a travelling carriage 20.

The carriage 20 includes a base 2| which is slidably supported at oneend by means of a pair of lugs 22, 22 and a longitudinal rod 23 extendedthrough said lugs and held at its ends in portions 24, 24 formed on orattached to the stationary base l3. The other end of base member 2| hasa depending lug 25 on which a tractionwheel 26 is rotatably supported bymeans of a pin 21. Portion 20 of the carriage is superposed on the basemember 2| and is hingedly secured thereto by means of hinge pins 28, 28which extend through lugs 29, 29 on member 20 and similar lugs30, 30 onmember 2|.

Member 20 has a pair of spaced bearings 3| and 32 which rotatably hold adrive shaft 33 connected withthe motor l4 and on which a centrifugalgovernor I9 of suitable form is mounted as by means of a pivot 34carried by another bearing 35 on member 20. Intermediate the bearings 3|and 32 a worm I5 is secured to shaft 33 for operative engagement with aworm gear l6 which is carried on a short transverse countershaft 36.Member 20 has a pair of spaced standards 31, 31 which form bearings forshaft 36, and said shaft supports, in addition to gear IS, a frictionaldriving pulley I! for engagement with the lower surface of a recordturntable 38 adapted to support a record 39 in playing position relativeto the reproducer l8.

Turntable 38 is fixed to the upper portion of a vertical spindle 40which is supported in a thrust hearing 4| on base l3 and in an upperbearing 42 formed on a standard 43 attached to base l3. (See Fig. 1.) Arotatable feed screw 44 is journaled at its ends in bearings 45 and 46and is operatively connected with turntable 38 by means of a pair ofbevel gears 41 and 48 which are fixed to screw 44 and spindle 40,respectively. The gear ratio between spindle 40 and screw 44 is suchthat the number of groove 'convolutions per inch on record 39 will beproportionate to the number of threads per inch on screw 44, i. e. ifrecord 39 has 160 convolutions per inch and the screw 44 has 40 threadsper inch, the gear ratio between said elements should be four to one.

Reproducer I8 is tiltably mounted on carriage member 2| and has an arm49 which is rigidly or pivotally secured at its lower extremity to a bar50, and said bar is hingedly secured to member 29 at points 5|. Acompresion spring 52 between bar and member 2| tends to swing said bar,arm 49 and reproducer l8 upwardly and to hold the same out of engagementwith record 39. A clutch 53 is pivotally mounted on and below member 2|at points 54 and is provided at one end with a threaded yoke 55 adaptedto engage the-threads of screw 44, a compression spring '56 betweenmember 2| and bar 53 tending to hold the clutch normally engaged withsaid screw.

In order that the reproducer |8 may be quickly andv easily adjustedrelative to the record 39 I provide means for simultaneously raising thereproducer from contact with the record and for detaching the clutchyoke 55 from screw 44 so that the carriage 20 may be moved forwardly orbackwardly in the case I. Said means include a rod 51 which is providedwith a grip button 58 externally of the front of the case andbearings 59and 60 formed on the upper side of member II for rotatably supportingsaid rod. A pair of cams 6| and 62 are fixed to rod 51 at spacedpointsadjacent the ends of member 29, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, one ofwhichoam 5|als0 serves to detach the friction driving pulley H from theturntable 38. Member 20 carries a projecting pin 63 which overlies theeccentric periphery 64 of cam 6| so that when rod 51- isv turned in aclgckwise direction as seen in Fig. 3 the member 29 and the mechanismthereon will be tilted sufliciently to disengage the pulley H fromturntable 38, while a projection 65 on said cam will engage pin 63 andlimit the movement thereof.

The rotation of rod 51 as described will correspondingly rotate the Sshaped cam 52 shown in Fig. 4 which is peculiarly formed for the dualpurpose of elevating the tone arm bar 50 and the clutch 55 and forlocking said members in operative positions. Cam 52 has a pair ofoppositely formed hooks 66 and 61 which are adapted to interlock withportions 68 and 69 formed on members 50 and 53, respectively, and

intermediate cam surfaces 10 and 1| which areadapted to engage theadjacent surfaces of portions 68 and 69, respectively, for tilting thebar 50 and the tone arm 49 carried thereby, and the clutch bar 53.Springs 52 and 55 tend to hold the members 50 and 53 in engagement withthe cam 62 so that when the rod 51 is turned in acounterclockwise'direction member 20 will reoccupy the position shown inFig. 3, and members 50 and 53 will be restored to the normally engagedpositions shown in Fig. 4.,

It will be obvious that when pulley I1 is disengaged from turntable 38,clutch 55 is disengaged from screw 44 and reproducer I8 is deacvaaaa Iplied to button 58, a slot 58 being formed in the front of the case ofample length to permit an adjustment of the reproducer from one extremeto the other.

4 The elements of a radio signal receiving set may be mounted as a unitin a suitable case 12 and the wires 13 and 14 leading from thereproducer |8 through tone arm 49 connected with the electrical systemof said radio set in a suitable manner, not material to this invention,so that in reproducing the sound from record 39 the speaker of the radioset may be utilized for amplification of the reproduced sounds byoperation of the knob |2.

An apparatus of the character herein shown and described is particularlyuseful for the entertainment and amusement of aiiiicted persons such asthe blind who are unable to read, and the records 39 may be arranged forthe IGPI'O. duction of books, sermons, lectures, operas or other formsof entertainment of long or short subjects.

In operation, a record 39 is placed inoperative position on theturntable in the usual manner,

after the carriage has been moved to an extreme as to engage thefriction pulley H with turntable.

38, engage clutch 55 with screw 44 and lower the reproducer I8 intocontact with the record groove, whereuponthe motor I4 is energized andthe reproduction will continue until the stylus of the reproducer hastraversed the entire sound track.

It will be understood that the friction pulley |1 engages the turntable88 at a point precisely beneath the stylus of the reproducer at alltimes and the speed of the record is gradually reduced as the stylusmoves outwardly in the sound record groove, or if the sound recordbegins at the outer extremity of the groove the speed of the record isgradually increased as the stylus moves inwardly of the record.

What I claim is:

1. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperativelysupporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a frame, a carriagebodily adjustable radially of theaxis of said turntable and tiltable on said frame, a power operateddriving means on said carriage, a reproducer also on said carriage forcontact with a record held on said turntable, and manually operablemeans including frictionally engageable driving and driven elements foroperatively connecting said carriage with said feed member through thetilting of said carriage whereby power from said driving means isconstantly applied to said turntable at progressively different pointsto correspond to the varying position of said reproducer.

2. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a frame, a carriage tiltable on said frame and bodilyadjustable radially oi the 7| axis of said turntable,'a power operateddriving means on said carriage including a friction driving element, areproducer also on said carriage for contact with a record held on saidturntable, and manually operable means including frictionally engageabledriving and driven elements for ratively connecting said carriage withsaid feed member and said friction driving member with said turntablewhereby power from said driving means is constantly applied to saidturntable at progressively diilerent points to correspond to the varyingposition of said reproducer. and a manually adjustable member fordetaching said reproducer from said record.

3. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a carriage bodily adjustable radially of the axis ofsaid turntable, a power operated driving means onsaid carriage includinga friction driving element, a reproducer also on said carriage forcontact with a record held on said turntable, manually operable meansfor simultaneously connecting said carriage with said feed member andsaid friction driving element with said turntable whereby power fromsaid driving means is constantly applied to said turntable atprogressively different points to correspond to the varying position oisaid reproducer, and a manually adjustable member for disconnecting saidcarriage from and connecting the same with said feed member at will, foradjusting the carriage relative to a record.

4. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared toon said carriage including a friction driving element, a reproducer alsoonsaid carriage for contact with a record held on said turntable, meansfor operatively connecting said carriage with said feed member wherebypower from said driving means is constantly applied to said turntable atprogressively difierent points'to correspond to the varying position ofsaid reproducer, and a manually adjustable member for tilting saidcarriage so as to disconnect and connect said friction driving meanswith respect to said turntable at will.

5. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a frame, a carriage bodily adjustable radially of theaxis of said turntable and adjustable on said iram a power operateddriving means on said carriage including a friction driving elementassociated with said turntable, a reproducer also on said carriage forcontact with a record held on said turntable, and means for manuallyadjusting said carriage on said frame for operatively connecting saidcarriage with said feed member and said driving element with saidturntable whereby power from said driving means is constantly applied tosaid turntable at progressively different points to correspond to thevarying position of said reproducer, and a manually adjustable memberoperative ior. simultaneously connecting and disconnecting saidreproducer with respect to said record, at will.

6. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a frame, a carriage bodily adjustable radially or theaxis of said turntable and also adjustable on said frame, a poweroperated driving means on said carriage, a reproducer also on saidcarriage for contact with a record held on said turntable, and means foradjusting said carriage for connection with said feed member wherebypower from said driving means is constantly applied to said turntable atprogressively different points to correspond to the varying position ofsaid reproducer, and a manually adjustable member operative forsimultaneously connecting and disconnecting said driving means withrespect to said turntable and said carriage with respect to said feedmember.

7. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a carriage bodily adjustable radially of the axis ofsaid turntable, a power operated driving means on said carriage, areproducer also on said carriage for contact with a record held on saidturntable, and means including frictionally engageable driving anddriven elements for operatively connecting said carriage with said feedmember whereby power from said driving means is constantly applied tosaid turn table atv progressively different points to correspond to thevarying position of said reproducer, and a manually adjustable memberoperative for simultaneously connecting and disconnecting said carriagewith respect to said feed member and said reproducer with respect tosaid record, at will.

8. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable foroperatively supporting a sound record, a rotatable feed member geared tosaid turntable, a carriage bodily adjustable radially of the axis ofsaid turntable and tiltable relative to said turntable, a power operateddriving means on said carriage, a reproducer tiltably held on saidcarriage for contact with a record held on said turntable, and means fortilting said carriage for connection with and disconnection from saidfeed member, power from said driving means being thereby constantlyapplied to said turntable at progressively different points tocorrespond to the varying position of said reproducer when the carriageis operatively positioned, and a manually adiustable member operativefor simultaneously connecting and disconnecting said driving means withrespect to said turntable, said carriage with respect to said feedmember and said reproducer with respect to said record, at will.

9. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a reproducer, a rotatableturntable for operatively supporting a record in and a driving mechanismradially reciprocable relative to the axis of said turntable andmanually operative for adjustment to selectively position the reproduceron said record and automatically operative thereafter for adjustmentwith the reproducer during the progress of the reproduction operationfor rotating said record, and -manually operable cam means for tiltingsaid reproducer whereby to connect the same with and disconnect the samefrom said record.

10. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a turntable for supportinga record in operative position, a rotatable feed member, a reciprocableunit-including a driving means, means for operatively connecting saidreciprocable unit with said feed member, and a reproducer operativelyconnected with said turntable, all of the elements of said reciprocableunit being movable a reproducing operation,

gresses from one extreme of movement to the.

other, and manually releasable means including a rotatable shaft and anoperating member thereon for simultaneously rendering said reproducerand said driving means and the connection between said reciprocable unitand said feed member operative at will.

11. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable, acarriage reciprocable radially relative to said turntable, a reproduceradjustably mounted on said carriage for adjustment to and from operativeposition relative to a record carried by said turntable, and a powerapplication unit tiltably mounted on said carriage and including amotor, and a driving element engageable with said turntable, andmanually operable means for adjusting said reproducer and said powerunit to and from operative positions.

12. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable, acarriage reciprocable radially relative to the axis of said turntable, areproducer adjustably mounted on said carriage for adjustment to andfrom operative position relative to a record carried by said turntable,and a power application unit tiltably mounted on said carriage andincluding a motor, and a driving element engageable with said turntable,and manually operable means for adjusting said reproducer and said powerunit to and from operative positions, and a feed member rotatablyconnected with said turntable and operatively connected with and forautomatically moving said carriage during the progress of a. reproducingoperation.

13. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable, acarriage reciprocable radially relative to the axis of said turntable, areproducer adjustably mounted on said carriage for adjustment to andfrom operative position relative to a record carried by said turntable,and

a a power application unit tiltably mounted on said carriage andincluding a motor, and a driving element engageable with said turntable,and manually operable means for adjusting said reproducer and said powerunit to and from operative positions, and a feed member rotatablyconnected with said turntable and operatively connected with and forautomatically moving said carriage during the progress of a reproducingoperation,

and means associated with said manually operable means for renderingsaid carriage operative and inoperative at will.

14. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable, aslidable carriage arranged for radial movement relative to the axis ofsaid turntable, a reproducer adjustably mounted on said carriage forcontact with a record carried by said turntable, a frame tiltablysupported on said carriage, a power application means including adriving element carried by said frame for engagement with saidturntable, and manually operable means for simultaneously adjusting saidreproducer and said driving element to and from operative positionsrelative to said record and said turntable, respectively.

15. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable, aslidable carriage arranged for radial movement relative to the axis ofsaid turntable, a reproducer adjustably mounted on said carriage forcontact with a record carried by said turntable, a frame tiltablysupported on said carriage, a power application means including adriving element carried by said frame for engagement with saidturntable, and manually operable means for simultaneously adjusting saidreproducer and said driving element to and from operative positionsrelative to said record and said turntable, respectively, and meansoperatively connecting said turntable with said carriage forautomatically moving said carriage during the progress of a reproductionoperation.

16. A sound reproducing mechanism comprising a rotatable turntable, aslidable carriage arranged for radial movement relative to the axis ofsaid turntable, a reproducer adjustably mounted on said carriage forcontact with a record carried by said turntable, a frame tiltablysupported on said carriage, a power application means includ ing adriving element carried by said frame for engagement with saidturntable, and manually operable means for simultaneously adjusting saidreproducer and said driving element to and from operative positionsrelative to said record and said turntable, respectively, and meansoperatively connecting said turntable with said carriage forautomatically moving said carriage during the progress of a reproductionoperation, and means associated with said manually operable means forrendering said carriage moving means operative and inoperative at will.

EDWARD R. HARRIS.

